On Love and Luna Lovegood
by Die Heiresses
Summary: When Luna Lovegood finally gets married, Neville is forced to reckon with his unrequited feelings for her.


It came on onion-scented lavender-colored paper. The invitation read:

To: Mr. Neville Longbottom (and to Ms. Hannah Abbott, too, if she likes)

Rolf Scamander and Luna Lovegood would like to invite you to their wedding. It will be hosted at Rolf Scamander's family home on the seventh of June.

Dress code: Be sure to wear sun colors for luck.

See you there!

Love, Luna and Rolf

PS: You may have noticed the garlic scent on the paper. It helps ward off quite a lot of bad things. We recommend you obtain some and string it up in your house.

Wow. Luna was…really getting married. Neville felt happy for her. Yes, that was the little ache he was feeling in his gut. That was why he was feeling precociously close to crying. After all, Luna deserved to be happy. Yes, she did.

And she would be. Luna had been in close correspondence with Neville, detailing her growing affection for Rolf Scamander in matter of fact terms. Neville found it perversely satisfying to hear so much about Luna's love life.

Perversely! No, he found it satisfying because he wanted the best for her. He wanted someone who could make her happy, make her feel something.

Because Neville sure couldn't. After the battle of Hogwarts he'd fallen apart and was in no state to love anyone. By the time he'd pulled himself together, Luna and Rolf had started dating. So when Hannah Abbott asked him out, he saw no reason not to say yes.

He heard a knock on his door, and Hannah's voice asking him if now was a good time. He nodded, realized that Hannah couldn't see him, and opened the door. Hannah came bearing a bowl of steaming oatmeal. She set it down in Neville's desk, and came around to read the invitation.

"A wedding! How nice," Hannah said. "Sun colors? We ought to go shopping for some, then." Hannah kissed him on the cheek. "Does tomorrow work?" Neville nodded assent, and Hannah left the room.

Really. Neville didn't deserve her.

On the back of the invitation were more details, and Neville would get to those, too. Later. Right now, though, Neville laid his head on the table and cried.

Neville had been teased has a child for his tenancy to tear up on a moment's notice. But he couldn't remember a time when he'd cried harder and longer than he had now.

He heard footsteps coming toward him, and he tried, to no avail, to stop the flow of tears. But it was only Hannah, returned with a cup of coffee. She set it down beside the oatmeal and went to put a hand on Neville's back. She clucked at him, her face reproving.

"Now, now. What's wrong?" Hannah had a nice voice. It had not the dreamy quality of Luna's, but it was sweet and tender all at the same time. Neville sobbed some more. "Is it Luna?" So she knew. They were so perceptive, these Hufflepuffs. He could stand to do worse.

Neville grunted out a "yes", and while he was sure it must've hurt to have one's boyfriend admit so bluntly to being wrung up on another, Hannah never stopped rubbing his back.

After a time, Neville's tears subdided. He turned to Hannah, who crouched beside him. The position looked uncomfortable. He stood up, offering Hannah the seat. She shook her head. Neville shrugged, then realized how rude he was being.

"Hannah," began Neville. Then he kissed her.

It wasn't passionate. It had none of the romance that Neville expected. Yet he knew that he could grow to love her, and the passion their love lacked would be replaced tenfold by the steadiness Hannah afforded.

Not that Neville was over Luna. He and Hannah attended her wedding in vibrant orange, and toasted with everyone else. But Hannah alone noticed his dejected stare as he watched the newlyweds embrace, and she comforted him.

 **Author's note:**

 **I didn't mean for Hannah's character to seem like a stereotypical bland female love interest. She's just a kind, helpful, selfless person, not boring or dominated by Neville or anything else.**

 **Also: please review. I'd love to hear what you think of this. If you need a bribe…well, if you review my story I'll give you some chocolate. Not real chocolate, of course, since I don't have any (and if I did I'd eat it) but the fictional kind. If you like, you can give it to the characters in your stories.** **It's dark chocolate. The good kind.**


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